Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:2
- About Christ Church...
- The Story of Christ Church
- About the Episcopal Church
- Meet Our Clergy The Reverend Heather L. Melton—Rector
- Meet our Staff
- Meet our Vestry
- Parish Life
- Annual Report 2011
We gather several times a year for parish dinners, both at church and elsewhere. We offer special gatherings for groups with similar interest such as a women’s group, a caregivers group and a young families group.
We are passionate about caring for our neighbors. Throughout the year we open our doors for special celebrations such as the 9/11 Quiet Day, Harvest Fair and Antique Show, Breakfast with Santa and the Garden Tour. We also participate in our communities. We sing carols at the Stewart Manor Tree lighting and we participate in the Memorial Day service in Garden City as well as in many other events.
Christ Church members come from Garden City, Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Franklin Square, and New Hyde Park, as well as other villages in the area.
Christ Episcopal Church began with a gathering of Episcopalians in a house in nearby Stewart Manor in 1926. By December of 1929, a Tudor style church had been constructed in Garden City at the church’s present location. For the next 37 years this mission church, after struggling through the depression and the Second World War, began to thrive and by the end of its next decade additions to the church and a rectory were planned.
In 1956, Christ Church was admitted to the Diocese of Long Island as a parish, a building fund drive was launched and building renovations began. The sanctuary was enlarged. a parish hall with office space and the Memorial Room were added, more than doubling the space available for the growing parish’s needs. The basement was also expanded, adding a kitchen, a chapel for the Sunday School and classroom space. A rectory next to the church was completed in 1956. Over the next decade, stained glass windows in the nave and a steeple with a Latin cross and a bell were added. In 1971 the mortgage was “burned” and in 1979 the church was consecrated to the glory of God. Another major capital improvement campaign held in 1991 continued the enhancements. The sanctuary was redone and a historic Tracker pipe organ was installed. A stone baptismal font received from St. Paul’s School in Garden City was set in the nave.
Christ Church has had five rectors. Our current rector, the Reverend Heather Melton, came to Christ Church in May of 2011.
The congregation stays true to our core values which we believe meet the needs of the community gathered. This congregation continues to focus on worship, fellowship, formation, outreach and fun. Each week there are activities and opportunities to join our
community as we journey in faith together.
Christ Episcopal Church began with a gathering of Episcopalians in a house in nearby Stewart Manor in 1926. By December of 1929, a Tudor style church had been constructed in Garden City at the church’s present location. For the next 37 years this mission church, after struggling through the depression and the Second World War, began to thrive and by the end of its next decade additions to the church and a rectory were planned.
In 1956, Christ Church was admitted to the Diocese of Long Island as a parish, a building fund drive was launched and building renovations began. The sanctuary was enlarged. a parish hall with office space and the Memorial Room were added, more than doubling the space available for the growing parish’s needs. The basement was also expanded, adding a kitchen, a chapel for the Sunday School and classroom space. A rectory next to the church was completed in 1956. Over the next decade, stained glass windows in the nave and a steeple with a Latin cross and a bell were added. In 1971 the mortgage was “burned” and in 1979 the church was consecrated to the glory of God. Another major capital improvement campaign held in 1991 continued the enhancements. The sanctuary was redone and a historic Tracker pipe organ was installed. A stone baptismal font received from St. Paul’s School in Garden City was set in the nave.
Christ Church has had five rectors. Our current rector, the Reverend Heather Melton, came to Christ Church in May of 2011.
The congregation stays true to our core values which we believe meet the needs of the community gathered. This congregation continues to focus on worship, fellowship, formation, outreach and fun. Each week there are activities and opportunities to join our
community as we journey in faith together.
After the American colonies became independent from Great Britain, the colonial congregations of the Church of England organized themselves into the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. This is the origin of today’s Episcopal Church. Our first Bishop, Samuel Seabury, was consecrated by Bishops from the Church of Scotland.
We have retained bonds of affection with the Church of England, and are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. As such, we also consider ourselves a part of the historical “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” As an independent international church, however, we differ from both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in many beliefs and practices.
The forms for services of the Episcopal Church are set out in the Book of Common Prayer (the red book found in the pew racks). At Christ Church, the order of service on Sunday may be found in that day’s bulletin which the ushers distribute. In the Episcopal Church, the style of service depends on the individual congregation and varies from high-church Anglo-Catholic to low-church Protestant. Christ Church is considered on the high-church end of the spectrum.
“The Holy Eucharist is the principal act of Christian Worship on the Lord’s Day” according to the Episcopal Church (Book of Common Prayer (BCP), p13). Sunday morning worship in the Episcopal tradition is a time of public and corporate worship as stated in the Prayer Book “to set forth God’s praise, to hear God’s holy Word, and to ask, for ourselves and on behalf of others, those things that are necessary for our life and our salvation” (BCP, p79). It is not intended that attendance at Sunday services completely fulfills the religious needs or obligations of a Christian, to say nothing of carrying out Christ’s ministry in the world. Our corporate acts, saying common prayers, reciting creeds, singing psalms and hymns, listening to the proclamation of God’s Word and sharing in Holy Communion, simply prepare us for ministry outside the doors of the church buildings. Hence we are dismissed at the end of worship with the words “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
Sunday worship, by its corporate nature, allows only limited opportunity for personal prayer and reflection. It does, however, provide us with tools to develop such practice during the week to come, as do various midweek services and programs offered at Christ Church.
At Christ Church, all baptized people are invited to receive the bread and wine at Communion. Most receive both, although some accept only the bread, and others dip the bread into the wine before consuming. You may also receive a blessing by simply crossing your arms over your chest to indicate this preference.
We typically stand for hymns, prayers and the Gospel reading, kneel for the confession and sit for the other readings and the sermon. Some prefer to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer which is a custom inherited from the middle ages. Others stand, as was the custom in the early church, following ancient Hebrew practice. The practice of crossing oneself depends entirely on individual preference and is typically done at those points in the service when the congregation is blessed, the priest pronounces the forgiveness of sins or immediately before or after receiving Communion.
We observe the liturgical year which begins with Advent (the fourth Sunday before Christmas), continues through Christmas, Epiphany and its season, the forty days of Lent, Easter and its Great Fifty-Day season, and Pentecost. The season of Pentecost continues through summer and autumn to Advent. The vestments, altar hangings and flowers reflect these seasons.
The Episcopal Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary which appoints Bible readings for each Sunday of a three-year cycle. For example, one year the Gospel readings will be drawn primarily from Matthew, the next year from Mark and John, then from Luke. Readings from John are typically heard on special feast days. The usual practice is for lay people to read the passages from the Old Testament, the Psalms and Epistles and for the clergy to proclaim the Gospel. The Revised Common Lectionary is shared among most Protestant denominations.
The name “Episcopal” means that our church is led by bishops, as was the early church. Our bishop, the Right Reverend Lawrence C. Provenzano, is the Bishop of Long Island. The bishop is responsible for overseeing the priests in the diocese and for providing leadership on major issues.
Our rector (senior priest) at Christ Church is the Reverend Heather L. Melton. The rector is responsible for the spiritual leadership of the parish and the staff assists her in this ministry. The business leadership, e.g. finances, buildings and grounds, is the responsibility of the rector, wardens, and vestry (members of the parish elected by the congregation). Many other people also participate in church governance through parish committees and through elected representatives.
The Episcopal Church, historically and in temperament, has a tradition of tolerating a wide variety of practices and interpretation. This follows the sixteenth century precedent of the Elizabethan Settlement, when Queen Elizabeth I ordered the Catholic and Protestant leaders in the English Church to find a way to include all English Christians in the Church. This led to the “three-legged stool” which is the colloquial term for the three recognized sources of authority: scripture, tradition and reason. We understand scripture as the story of a people’s encounter with, and contemplation of, God. We respect tradition as a living bequest, and sometimes participate in the creation of new traditions. Finally, we feel bound to apply to our faith our God-given reason informed by experience, though always mindful that reason has its limitations.
Mother Melton will be glad to help you with any further information about the traditions and practices of the Episcopal Church or we encourage you to join our Inquirer’s Class.
We have retained bonds of affection with the Church of England, and are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. As such, we also consider ourselves a part of the historical “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” As an independent international church, however, we differ from both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in many beliefs and practices.
The forms for services of the Episcopal Church are set out in the Book of Common Prayer (the red book found in the pew racks). At Christ Church, the order of service on Sunday may be found in that day’s bulletin which the ushers distribute. In the Episcopal Church, the style of service depends on the individual congregation and varies from high-church Anglo-Catholic to low-church Protestant. Christ Church is considered on the high-church end of the spectrum.
“The Holy Eucharist is the principal act of Christian Worship on the Lord’s Day” according to the Episcopal Church (Book of Common Prayer (BCP), p13). Sunday morning worship in the Episcopal tradition is a time of public and corporate worship as stated in the Prayer Book “to set forth God’s praise, to hear God’s holy Word, and to ask, for ourselves and on behalf of others, those things that are necessary for our life and our salvation” (BCP, p79). It is not intended that attendance at Sunday services completely fulfills the religious needs or obligations of a Christian, to say nothing of carrying out Christ’s ministry in the world. Our corporate acts, saying common prayers, reciting creeds, singing psalms and hymns, listening to the proclamation of God’s Word and sharing in Holy Communion, simply prepare us for ministry outside the doors of the church buildings. Hence we are dismissed at the end of worship with the words “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
Sunday worship, by its corporate nature, allows only limited opportunity for personal prayer and reflection. It does, however, provide us with tools to develop such practice during the week to come, as do various midweek services and programs offered at Christ Church.
At Christ Church, all baptized people are invited to receive the bread and wine at Communion. Most receive both, although some accept only the bread, and others dip the bread into the wine before consuming. You may also receive a blessing by simply crossing your arms over your chest to indicate this preference.
We typically stand for hymns, prayers and the Gospel reading, kneel for the confession and sit for the other readings and the sermon. Some prefer to kneel during the Eucharistic prayer which is a custom inherited from the middle ages. Others stand, as was the custom in the early church, following ancient Hebrew practice. The practice of crossing oneself depends entirely on individual preference and is typically done at those points in the service when the congregation is blessed, the priest pronounces the forgiveness of sins or immediately before or after receiving Communion.
We observe the liturgical year which begins with Advent (the fourth Sunday before Christmas), continues through Christmas, Epiphany and its season, the forty days of Lent, Easter and its Great Fifty-Day season, and Pentecost. The season of Pentecost continues through summer and autumn to Advent. The vestments, altar hangings and flowers reflect these seasons.
The Episcopal Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary which appoints Bible readings for each Sunday of a three-year cycle. For example, one year the Gospel readings will be drawn primarily from Matthew, the next year from Mark and John, then from Luke. Readings from John are typically heard on special feast days. The usual practice is for lay people to read the passages from the Old Testament, the Psalms and Epistles and for the clergy to proclaim the Gospel. The Revised Common Lectionary is shared among most Protestant denominations.
The name “Episcopal” means that our church is led by bishops, as was the early church. Our bishop, the Right Reverend Lawrence C. Provenzano, is the Bishop of Long Island. The bishop is responsible for overseeing the priests in the diocese and for providing leadership on major issues.
Our rector (senior priest) at Christ Church is the Reverend Heather L. Melton. The rector is responsible for the spiritual leadership of the parish and the staff assists her in this ministry. The business leadership, e.g. finances, buildings and grounds, is the responsibility of the rector, wardens, and vestry (members of the parish elected by the congregation). Many other people also participate in church governance through parish committees and through elected representatives.
The Episcopal Church, historically and in temperament, has a tradition of tolerating a wide variety of practices and interpretation. This follows the sixteenth century precedent of the Elizabethan Settlement, when Queen Elizabeth I ordered the Catholic and Protestant leaders in the English Church to find a way to include all English Christians in the Church. This led to the “three-legged stool” which is the colloquial term for the three recognized sources of authority: scripture, tradition and reason. We understand scripture as the story of a people’s encounter with, and contemplation of, God. We respect tradition as a living bequest, and sometimes participate in the creation of new traditions. Finally, we feel bound to apply to our faith our God-given reason informed by experience, though always mindful that reason has its limitations.
Mother Melton will be glad to help you with any further information about the traditions and practices of the Episcopal Church or we encourage you to join our Inquirer’s Class.
The Reverend Heather L. Melton accepted a call to be the Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in May 2011. Mother Melton was a Youth and Young Adult Minister before attending seminary. She also served as an Intern for Evangelism for Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church before returning to Colorado to complete her curacy in Boulder. Prior to coming to Christ Church, Mother Melton served at Our Merciful Savior Episcopal Church in Denver where she had the opportunity to minister to a bi- lingual congregation.
She is passionate about faith formation for all ages. She especially enjoys working with children and families.
Mother Melton is married to JK Melton, a seminarian at General Theological Seminary in New York City. The Meltons are committed to church development and mission. They have served in mission together in the Dominican Republic and Liberia. (See photo on the right from their trip to an orphanage in Liberia in Western Africa.) They live in the rectory with their cats and you might see the Meltons out working in the yard.
Mother Melton enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She has spent time in Japan, Liberia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. She loves music and the arts and plays the trumpet and the marimba. She also enjoys reading, gardening and spending time talking with people at coffee shops. She is currently learning Spanish.
Mother Melton is influenced by the work of Desmond Tutu, Dietrich Bonheoffer and CS Lewis. She believes that we are all children of God, bound together in community and loved by God beyond our ability to understand.
She is passionate about faith formation for all ages. She especially enjoys working with children and families.
Mother Melton is married to JK Melton, a seminarian at General Theological Seminary in New York City. The Meltons are committed to church development and mission. They have served in mission together in the Dominican Republic and Liberia. (See photo on the right from their trip to an orphanage in Liberia in Western Africa.) They live in the rectory with their cats and you might see the Meltons out working in the yard.
Mother Melton enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She has spent time in Japan, Liberia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. She loves music and the arts and plays the trumpet and the marimba. She also enjoys reading, gardening and spending time talking with people at coffee shops. She is currently learning Spanish.
Mother Melton is influenced by the work of Desmond Tutu, Dietrich Bonheoffer and CS Lewis. She believes that we are all children of God, bound together in community and loved by God beyond our ability to understand.
Pat Martin, Parish and Nursery School Administrator
Pat Martin works in the office at Christ Church and is the voice greeting you when you call. She handles all of the paperwork of the church and nursery school and schedules volunteers for Sunday Morning.Dorothy Sherlock, Bookkeeper
Dorothy Sherlock serves as our bookkeeper in addition to her work for the Diocese of Long Island. Her duties include making all payments for Christ Church and the Garden Manor Nursery School as well as maintaining (with the parish administrator) our financial files.Sal Miano, Sexton
Sal Miano serves Christ Church and the Garden Manor Nursery School as our sexton. He is in charge of keeping our space clean and tidy.Our current Vestry members are:
Senior Warden: Sally Tate Richmond
Junior Warden: Priscilla Wardlaw
Members:
Donna Seaman
Jocklyn Carter
John Klupka,
Marion Klupka
Julian Sottovia
Barbara Montaruli
Donna Biglin
Joe Martin
Mike Seylar
Vestry The vestry of an Episcopal Parish has three primary responsibilities: parish finances, the care of parish buildings and grounds and the selection of the rector. The vestry also assists the clergy in the leadership of programs, spiritual health, goal setting and implementation.
Vestry members are elected by the congregation. One third of the body is elected each year. They are an important avenue of communication between individual parishioners and the church and serve as a board of directors. The senior warden acts as advisor to the rector. The junior warden is responsible for communication between parishioners and the vestry. Vestry members have specific responsibilities within the parish, including committee work and special events. In addition to the three primary responsibilities listed above, the Vestry has responsibility to support the spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of the staff and congregation. The vestry also oversees the business operations of the Garden Manor Nursery School. They are responsible for the annual meeting where the mission, work and business of the parish are summarized and reported to the congregation, and when elections are held.
Parish Dinners are a great time of fellowship and fun for members of the congregation and their guests. These fundraising dinners through out the year also help to support the congregation and end with a raffle for all ages.
The Parish-wide Picnic in June features a big cookout, time for fellowship and awards for our children. We also have a fall cookout to showcase ministries of the church including our outreach partners. All are welcome and this is a great way to meet people.
Young Families Group meets for fellowship and mutual support for families with children. Please see Mother Melton for more information.
Harvest Fair and Antique Sale is a day-long event held at Christ Church to support the work of the church. It is a fun event with lots to see and do and is held in October each year.
Young Families Group meets for fellowship and mutual support for families with children. Please see Mother Melton for more information.
Harvest Fair and Antique Sale is a day-long event held at Christ Church to support the work of the church. It is a fun event with lots to see and do and is held in October each year.
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